 The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have a few preventative measures you can take to ensure that your super is being properly paid to you. 1. Check your contact details
Make sure that your tax file number is up to date with any of your known supers and the ATO. This allows the ATO to match your information to super funds you may not be aware of. You can do this through ATO online services accessed via myGov. If you’re a client of ours and believe that your super details may be outdated, please let us know so that we can update on your behalf. 2. Check your super balance and employer contributions If you don’t currently have a financial adviser, it’s important to be aware of which super funds you hold and to check them periodically to ensure payments are being correctly made. This is especially important when you have just changed employers or your name, as these can impact employer contributions. To see all super funds registered with the ATO, you can access the ATO portal through myGov. You can also view employer contributions through the ATO website to ensure that you’re being paid correctly. To estimate if your employer is contributing the correct amount, use the ATO’s super payment calculator. 3. Check for lost and unclaimed super Once you’re aware of the super funds registered against your name with the ATO, you may discover that there are multiple super funds you haven’t contributed in for years. This could be because you changed employer, or because you opted in to the account and inactivity hasn’t closed it. 4. Check if you have multiple super accounts and consider consolidating Sometimes, multiple super accounts are beneficial. For example, if you retain insurances within one fund, but another has better performance, you may choose to retain both. Other times, it may not be beneficial to retain multiple accounts due to fees or convenience. It’s important that if you have a financial adviser, you discuss consolidating prior to actioning anything yourself. Often insurances can be held in these accounts, or external premiums can be paid from them, so it’s important to ensure you won’t be cancelling anything unknowingly. 5. Check your nominated beneficiary Beneficiaries are extremely important in ensuring that your loved ones can finalise your estate. Binding beneficiaries typically last 3 years, though some super funds do not have an expiry. Find out more about nominating beneficiaries here. If you have any further questions about locating or consolidating lost super, feel free to reach out to our office on 07 4766 9688 or by booking an appointment here. Comments are closed.
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